Jonathan Kim is no ordinary student. A former Navy Seal, deployed twice to Iraq, majoring in mathematics and minoring in chemistry with an almost perfect GPA, a recipient of a number of prestigious military and civilian awards, grants and scholarships, studying to become a Navy surgeon so that he can serve our country to the fullest extent. If this is not extraordinary and inspirational, I do not know what is.

Inside USD -- If you were to take a stroll across Alcalá Park and ask students about their role models, you’d likely get answers as eclectic as the people who provided them. And likely it wouldn’t surprise you if they listed a collection of musicians, athletes and activists; it is, after all, a college campus.

But Jonathan Kim ’12 has an answer that doesn’t really fit the conventional mold. Then again, neither does he. “Well, it may not be the most popular type of role model, but I am really inspired by the work that orthopedic surgeons do with injured soldiers,” admits the 27-year-old corpsman, Navy SEAL, math major and soon-to-be medical school student. He aspires to join that select group of men and women who, among other duties, serve as critical care responders to injured members of the U.S. Armed Forces. “They were the ones that had the ability to save the men and women on the front line, and I thought that was really amazing, being able to help in that way.” (Full Story)